Tag Archive for: exercise

Encouraging a healthy lifestyle for students

Our student planners contain a wealth of content to support a healthy lifestyle and mental wellbeing. We work to stimulate student interest and help to navigate them through their school year. We also assist in the meeting of Ofsted judgement criteria. Our student diary content is reviewed and refreshed each year to ensure it remains relevant and engaging for students.

The benefits of a healthy lifestyle on physical and mental wellbeing are well known.

That’s why it’s vital to encourage students to adopt a healthy lifestyle. This is something we cover in both our classic and secondary student planners – offering advice on eating well, exercise and healthy sleep.

How to eat well

In the ‘how to eat well’ section of the planners, we take a look at the types of food you should consume and in what balance.

A good balance is to aim for a 1/3 of your diet consisting of fruit and veg, preferably five portions a day. Another third can be made up of carbohydrates such as potatoes, pasta, rice and bread (wholegrain varieties of these, if possible). The remaining 1/3 should be made up of healthy fats (unsaturated oils and spreads), proteins (meat, eggs, beans, etc.), milk and dairy (cheese and yoghurt, etc.).

The planners also give advice on limiting consumption of food and drinks high in salt, sugar and fat. By explaining food labelling, students can more easily understand which foods are high in calories, saturated fats, salt and sugar and try to control their intake.

For example, the energy in a product is termed as ‘kJ’ and ‘kcal’ calories, while saturates is another word for saturated fat. Reference intakes (RI) are guidelines to show the amount of energy and nutrients needed for a healthy, balanced diet. The %RI will enable you to see how much of your daily healthy maximum is in a portion of that product.

The importance of regular exercise

Classic and secondary student planners also encourage students to include exercise throughout their week.

The planners recommend combining aerobic exercise with strength-building exercises. This is especially important for young adults as it helps to maintain a healthy heart rate and grow muscle and bone strength.

Moderate intensity exercises that raise your heart rate include activities such as cycling, walking, rollerblading, and skateboarding.

Strength-building exercises, including running, climbing, gymnastics, and team sports such as netball, football and rugby, can help to build strength. Playing tennis, squash and badminton are also good strength exercises.

Getting a good night’s sleep

A good sleep routine plays a vital role in a student’s mental wellbeing. When you’re studying, a lack of sleep can have a negative impact on your work.

It’s recommended that teenagers try to get a minimum of 8 to 9 hours sleep on a school night. To achieve this, try to avoid eating too much before bed. Caffeine can have a detrimental effect on sleep, and you should stop drinking coffee, tea and cola four hours before bed.

Taking regular exercise can aid your sleep pattern. Another tip is to avoid having electronic devices in the bedroom, as the light source from the screen can interfere with sleep. It also helps to try to have 30 minutes screen-free time before going to bed.

Support a healthy lifestyle for students with Boomerang Education student planners

If you’d like to know more about our planners, please get in touch on 01252 368 328

Or visit our website, where you can explore the diary content in digital format at https://boomeranged.co.uk/portfolio/secondary-design-school-planners/

National Fitness Day: 5 Reasons to Exercise

We like to think of ourselves as a pretty fit bunch here at Team Boomerang (did we mention our 3 Three Peaks Challenge?), so we’re giving you 5 reasons to exercise, in honour of National Fitness Day.

5 Reasons to Exercise in honour of National Fitness Day:

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1) Fewer colds

We’ve reached that time of year when colds are going around and nobody likes getting sick – well, exercise can help!

Regular exercise helps boost the immune system, reducing your number of colds, flu, and other infections.

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2) Better skin

Exercise boosts circulation and the delivery of nutrients to your skin, helping to detoxify the body, which is great for your skin.

You might think that sweating is less than desirable but it actually helps to push toxins, oils and dirt out of your pores, giving you a smoother and more radiant complexion.

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3) Increased brainpower

Ever noticed that you tend to think more clearly after a workout? This is because exercise boosts blood flow to the brain and helps it receive oxygen and nutrients.

So the better shape you’re in, the quicker your thinking could be!

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4) Improved mental well-being

Regular exercise reduces the number of stress hormones in the body, resulting in a slower heart rate and lower blood pressure. Increased relaxation after exercise shows in your face too, thanks to reduced muscle tension.

Research shows that regular exercise can even ease symptoms of mild to moderate depression, due to the release of endorphins (hormones in the brain associated with a happy, positive feeling).

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5) A good night’s sleep

Finding it difficult to get to sleep? Exercise can help with this, just try not to do it right before bed.

Following on from this, it will also make you feel more energised throughout the day – so positives all round!

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What did you think of our 5 reasons to exercise? Got others to add to this list? Let us know by dropping us a tweet.

Happy National Fitness Day! 🙂

The Boomerang Team.